How to Purchase

There are three options for non-Thais to purchase houses and land in Thailand as follows:

Option 1) Purchase under a Company Name

This means that you have to hire a solicitor to set up and register a company for you to buy the house and land under the company name. This option will cost between 35,000 and 60,000 baht depending upon which law firm you engage. There are several law firms in Hua Hin or Bangkok and if required we can provide you with some names so that you can ask for competitive quotations.

You will also need to engage an accountant to prepare annual returns for the Thai tax authorities. The annual fee for this should be between 10,000 and 20,000 baht and, again, we can provide contacts for you .

To set up and register a company, your solicitor will need to appoint Thai nominees to hold 51% of the shares with you as the non-Thai holding the other 49%, since Thai law does not allow any non-Thai to hold over this amount.

Option 2) Purchase by Lease of Land

Some 95% of non-Thais use this option to buy the land and house. You will register the Land Lease at the Hua Hin Land Office and this will be acknowledged by the Thai Government, which means that they will support and protect the Lessee. The Land Office will specify the Lessee’s name in the Title Deed (The document to show ownership of the land) to show that the Lessee has leased the land for 30 years - the maximum period allowed under Thai law – and is entitled to renew for 2 more 30-year periods, so a total of 90 years in total. During that time, the Lessee can sell or transfer the ownership to other people, for example a family member.

Annually, you will need to submit a tax return to the Thai tax authorities, which you can do by yourself through an accountant.

Option 3) Purchase under a Thai Name

If you buy a property after marriage, the property will be considered a marriage property, so the safe option for non-Thais is to buy the property under Thai name. Use the non-Thais name to register the house and for the land, use the Thai name and register the usufruct at the Land Office.

Annually you will need to submit a tax return to the Thai tax authorities which you can do by yourself through an accountant.

The usufruct can be registered at the Land Office when the transfer of the land is made from the project company to the buyer. The usufruct is the best option for any non-Thai as the Land Office will specify in the title deed that for any resale of the house or sale of the land. the non-Thai who is named in the usufruct has to agree for any sale, otherwise the sale cannot be made. Also, the Thai cannot force the non-Thai to move out from the house if the non-Thai does not agree.